The biggest perigee moon of the year is happening this weekend and I'm planning to shoot it. I've taken some simple shots of the moon in the past, but this time I'd like to do it right. My plan is to incorporate the silhouetted branches of a longleaf pine (the subject of an ongoing project of mine) in front of the moon. I realize I need to be way back from the moon to get them even remotely close to the same focal plane (within the lens, not the universe!), but I have some questions:

1. Roughly how far from the tree do I need to be, assuming I'm shooting at 300 (for a wider shoot) or 600mm (300 f/2..8 IS II + 2xIII)?

2. Forgive my extreme ignorance on the subject, but I assume the so-called moon illusion that makes it appear larger near the horizon is just a psychological phenomenon, not something visible in-camera, right?

3. How much does humidity degrade this type of shot? It looks like it will be somewhere between 65-85% , which is actually a bit low for this time of year.

2. Forgive my extreme ignorance on the subject, but I assume the so-called moon illusion that makes it appear larger near the horizon is just a psychological phenomenon, not something visible in-camera, right?

Yes, but the super moon is actually a bit larger, as the moon is a little closer to us.

2. Forgive my extreme ignorance on the subject, but I assume the so-called moon illusion that makes it appear larger near the horizon is just a psychological phenomenon, not something visible in-camera, right?

Yes, but the super moon is actually a bit larger, as the moon is a little closer to us.

I guess I wasn't too clear on this one - apparently the moon, super or not, appears larger when it's right near the horizon, even though it will actually be closer to us later in the night (this time around at least). It's something called the moon illusion (see this link).

1. You have time before Sunday to practice the shot, so I'd check where it's rising this evening, or Saturday and try some shots to gve you an idea of the best set up for you. I use Stellarium (freeware, excellent) if I'm planning pictures involving astral bodies other than the sun. There won't be enough size difference to mess up approximations of this sort.

2. Yes, when the moon rises, it is further away from the observer than when it is overhead, so is actually smaller.

3. Shouldn't be a problem, unless it is cloudy. Seeing that you don't live in the UK, where it is always overcast when there's anything happening in the night sky...

Cool, I look forward to seeing yours as well. I'm thinking about bringing a couple of set ups and doing multiple shots, possibly including some composites, like they way Peter Lik shot this recent one:http://www.lik.com/thework/newrelease.html

1. You have time before Sunday to practice the shot, so I'd check where it's rising this evening, or Saturday and try some shots to gve you an idea of the best set up for you. I use Stellarium (freeware, excellent) if I'm planning pictures involving astral bodies other than the sun. There won't be enough size difference to mess up approximations of this sort.

+1 on Stellarium, too, it's a perfect companion to The Photographer's Ephemeris and I just bought the paid version for my Android.

Cool, I look forward to seeing yours as well. I'm thinking about bringing a couple of set ups and doing multiple shots, possibly including some composites, like they way Peter Lik shot this recent one:http://www.lik.com/thework/newrelease.html

Cool, I look forward to seeing yours as well. I'm thinking about bringing a couple of set ups and doing multiple shots, possibly including some composites, like they way Peter Lik shot this recent one:http://www.lik.com/thework/newrelease.html

LOL, yes, and that was brave of you to post that! I did the opposite when I first shot the moon. I spot-metered the moon and then set the manual exposure. Of course that turns white to middle gray, not really what you want, either. I think spot meter +1 EV works well as a starting place if I remember from my last shot.

Also, after checking the skies around here for Sunday - they are saying the stargazing forecast is Poor, so I may not even see the moon as they are calling for thunderstorms...

2. Forgive my extreme ignorance on the subject, but I assume the so-called moon illusion that makes it appear larger near the horizon is just a psychological phenomenon, not something visible in-camera, right?

Yes, but the super moon is actually a bit larger, as the moon is a little closer to us.

You are right about the Moon illusion. Wikipedia captures it well:

A popular belief, stretching back at least to Aristotle in the 4th century B.C., holds that the Moon appears larger near the horizon due to a real magnification effect caused by the Earth's atmosphere. This is not true: although the atmosphere does change the perceived color of the Moon, it does not magnify or enlarge it. In fact, the Moon appears about 1.5% smaller when it is near the horizon than when it is high in the sky, because it is farther away by nearly one Earth radius. Atmospheric refraction also makes the image of the Moon slightly smaller in the vertical direction.

The angle that the full Moon subtends at an observer's eye can be measured directly with a theodolite to show that it remains constant as the Moon rises or sinks in the sky (discounting the very small variations due to the physical effects mentioned). Photographs of the Moon at different elevations also show that its size remains the same.

Note that between different full moons, the Moon's angular diameter can vary from 33.5 arc minutes at perigee to 29.43 arc minutes at apogee—a difference of over 10%. This is because of the ellipticity of the Moon's orbit.